K-Pack Fitness Backpack

ABSTRACT

The K-Pack is a neoprene sports backpack designed to carry small objects during physical activities such as running, biking, skateboarding, etc. The K-Pack uses a series of adjustable, reflective shoulder straps to not only hold the pouch snugly against the wearer&#39;s back, but also to restrict the movement of the pouch. The K-Pack&#39;s pouch is very shallow to further reduce motion of items in the pouch. The K-Pack also uses a buckle and adjustable mid-section straps in the front to keep the pouch in place and enable it to be taken on and off. The mid-section strap acts to further stabilize the pouch during physical activities. The K-Pack can be worn so that the pouch is on the wearer&#39;s back or the wearer&#39;s front. The primary problem that the K-Pack solves is that it is a backpack with superior pouch stability. From a comfort standpoint, minimizing motion of the pouch and therefore the items inside of it is very important.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

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STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

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REFERANCE TO SEQUENCE LISTING, A TABLE, OR A COMPUTER PROGRAM LISTING COMPACT DISK APPENDEX

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ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE

The K-Pack is a neoprene sports backpack designed to carry small objects during physical activities such as running, biking, skateboarding, etc. The K-Pack uses a series of adjustable, reflective shoulder straps to not only hold the pouch snugly against the wearer's back, but also to restrict the movement of the pouch. The K-Pack's pouch is very shallow to further reduce motion of items in the pouch. The K-Pack also uses a buckle and adjustable mid-section straps in the front to keep the pouch in place and enable it to be taken on and off. The mid-section strap acts to further stabilize the pouch during physical activities. The K-Pack can be worn so that the pouch is on the wearer's back or the wearer's front. The primary problem that the K-Pack solves is that it is a backpack with superior pouch stability. From a comfort standpoint, minimizing motion of the pouch and therefore the items inside of it is very important.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Backpacks have been widely used in the United States for a number of years. They traditionally are comprised of adjustable shoulder straps and a large cloth pouch used to carry various items. Backpacks have been designed to carry school-books, hiking equipment, water tanks, and sports equipment such as sneakers. Although there are a wide range of backpacks used to perform a number of functions, the K-Pack is the first backpack designed specifically to carry small items during exercise. Examples of some other backpacks that have received patents in the past are: D249190 Stewart and D422404 Hasas. While the K-Pack draws on several ideas from its predecessors, it has a number of unique elements that make it an improvement over other backpacks when it comes to carrying small items during exercise.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The K-Pack is a neoprene sports backpack designed to carry small objects such as cell phones, ipods, and wallets during physical activities such as running, biking, skateboarding, etc. The K-Pack uses adjustable, reflective shoulder straps and a mid section strap to not only hold its pouch snugly against the wearers back, but also to restrict the movement of the pouch. The K-Pack's pouch is 1 inch shallow in order to further reduce motion of items in the pouch. The flap on the K-Pack's pouch has a horizontal reflective strip on it to increase visibility at night. The K-Pack uses a front buckle to enable the straps to be adjusted and to take the K-Pack on and off. The adjustable center strap acts to further stabilize the pouch during physical activities. The K-Pack can be worn so that the pouch is on the wearer's back or their front. Items are placed in the K-Pack through the use of a vertical flap that opens at the top of the pouch. The pouch is sealed by using Velcro on the top center of the underside of the flap and a vertical Velcro strip located in the center of the pouch. The shoulder straps crisscross on the underside of the pouch and are sewn together with the pouch. The shoulder straps then extend beyond the pouch and connect with the midsection strap through the use of button snaps. On the front of the K-Pack, the shoulder straps use a plastic fastener and nylon loops to connect to the midsection strap. The midsection strap goes through the nylon loops on each side.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL DRAWINGS OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 is a view of the back of a K-Pack on a human torso. This view serves to illustrate how the pouch and straps are situated and the horizontal reflective strip on the back pouch.

FIG. 2 is a view of the back of a K-Pack on a human torso with the vertical flap open. This view illustrates how the K-Pack opens and closes. It also shows the Velcro on the underside of the flap and the vertical Velcro strip located in the center of the pouch.

FIG. 3 is a view of the front of the K-Pack. It shows the orientation of the shoulder straps and the midsection strap. This view also shows the reflective strips on the shoulder straps, the plastic rings, the fasteners and the nylon loops. This view also shows the buckle that connects the midsection strap and enables the K-Pack to be taken on and off.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The K-Pack is different from traditional backpacks in that it is designed in such a way as to reduce motion of the pouch. The front of the K-Pack is made up of two 1½-inch adjustable shoulder straps (11), which are located on the sides of the wearers' chest. As shown in FIG. 3, plastic fasteners (13) are used on the shoulder straps to enable the straps to be adjusted up and down. This enables the wearer to make the straps looser or tighter. The shoulder straps are attached in the front to a 1½-inch adjustable neoprene midsection strap (12), which encircles the wearers' lower chest. The two adjustable straps are attached to the front of the midsection strap by plastic rings (14) that are then attached to nylon loops (10). The front of the midsection strap contains a plastic buckle (9) located near or on the wearers' abdomen. The buckle allows for the adjustment of the midsection strap and also allows the wearer to put on and takeoff the K-Pack by simply opening or closing the buckle. On the back of the K-Pack (FIG. 1), the two back shoulder straps (1) crisscross one another and then reattach again at the back of the midsection strap (6). Located where the straps overlap is a 6-inch wide, 5½-inch tall and 1-inch deep neoprene pouch (2), which is used to carry small objects such as a cell phone, ipod, keys, a wallet, or inhaler. The pouch is rectangular in shape and is sewn onto the crisscrossing back shoulder straps. The shoulder straps are attached to the midsection strap in the back by snap buttons (5). On the flap of the pouch (3) there is a 6 inch wide and ½ inch thick grey reflective strip (4) for enhanced visibility at night. The flap of the pouch opens and closes vertically and as seen in FIG. 2, the top center of the underside of the pouch has a 2-inch wide by 1-inch tall piece of Velcro (8) attached to it. FIG. 2 also shows the corresponding 2-inch wide by 4½-inch tall centered piece of Velcro (7) that is used to close the K-Pack pouch. To create the K-Pack pouch, the sides of a 10½-inch tall, by 6 inch wide, by ⅛ inch thick, piece of neoprene are sewn together after folding the neoprene over on itself This creates a pocket with three sealed sides, an opening at the top, and then a flap to cover and close the pocket. As FIG. 3 illustrates, there are also 6½-inch reflective strips (15) on the fronts of the shoulder straps. The reflective strips are applied to the neoprene through the use of a heat transfer.

In order to use the K-Pack, the wearer first needs to release the front buckle. Once this is done, the wearer simply puts their arms through the loops of the shoulder straps as they would a typical backpack. Once the K-Pack is on, the wearer should adjust the two shoulder straps and the midsection strap so that the K-Pack is secure, but not too tight. To put items in the pouch, the wearer should pull open the flap from the pouch in a vertical motion, place the items, and then lower the flap. The wearer should be sure that the flap on the pouch is pulled down as far as it can go without being stretched, and then make sure that the Velcro is sealed.

The purpose of the K-Pack's design is centered around minimizing the motion of the pouch. The first way that K-Pack accomplishes this is by using a small pouch and locating it high on the wearer's back. The K-Pack is designed to sit comfortably between the wearer's shoulder blades, as this is a relatively stable part of the human body. The second way that the K-Pack minimizes motion of the pouch is through the use of adjustable shoulder straps and an adjustable midsection strap. This enables the wearer to ensure that the pouch is as close to the wearer's body as possible, without being too tight. Using neoprene for the straps and pouch was a strategic decision as well. Neoprene is a fairly elastic material and because of this, it absorbs shock and further reduces motion of the pouch. The third feature that the K-Pack uses to minimize stability is its shallow pouch. By minimizing the thickness of objects that can be put into the pouch, the K-Pack is able to keep items close to the wearer's body. This minimizes motion within the pouch and therefore the motion of the pouch.

While there are many effective backpacks on the market, none of them have been designed to comfortably carry small items while exercising. Through pouch placement high on the back, the use of a shallow pouch, and the use of adjustable neoprene straps, the K-Pack accomplishes pouch stability in a way that no other backpack does. 

1. A neoprene backpack with adjustable neoprene straps that utilizes an adjustable midsection strap and adjustable shoulder straps to place the backpack pouch high on the back in-between the wearers' shoulder blades to maximize stability and comfort.
 2. The combination defined in claim 1 wherein a thin 1-inch pouch and adjustable neoprene straps are used to keep the objects being carried in the pouch snug against the wearer's body and thus reduce movement.
 3. The combination defined in claim 1 where reflective strips are located on the adjustable shoulder straps as well as the cover of the pouch increases the visibility of the user during activity. 